Migration in the News | 30 November 2017

11/30/17 Migration in the News

Media Monitoring Highlights

AFP reported that Libya agreed with EU and African leaders to allow migrants facing abuse in detention camps to be evacuated within days or weeks. African Union, European Union and UN officials at the meeting offered increased support for IOM to help with the return of Africans who want to go back to their home countries.

Reuters reported that reports of abuses against African migrants in Libya have sparked anger across the continent threatening to drive migration to the top of the AU-EU summit agenda and shine a spotlight on an issue fraught with political risk. It quoted IOM DG William Lacy Swing.

Centre for Global Development published an op-ed proposing channels for legal, managed, mutually beneficial migration as the AU-EU Summit got underway in Cote d’Ivoire. It mentioned IOM support in returning migrants from Libya voluntarily to their countries of origin.

Bustle reported that the Libyan slave trade has been enabled for years now. It noted that IOM sounded the alarm about the slave trade back in April, reporting that slave auctions were being held throughout the country. Buzzfeed also cited the same IOM report.

Bangladesh’s Daily Sun reported that the Rohingya crisis is too grave to ignore with more than 600,000 people fleeing violence in Rakhine into Bangladesh just in the last three months, with the initial influx that can be traced back to 1978.

Just Earth News reported on an IOM survey that showed that as temperatures plummet across eastern Ukraine, many who fled their homes following hostilities are forced to return to their original place of residence due to lack of jobs and money to pay rent in the places they were sheltering.

Trending on the Internet

Global Citizen reported about Ajak Deng, a former refugee who is now a top model in Australia and is helping raise money for refugee children.

The Hamilton Spectator reported about the #HamiltonForAll campaign which aims to make the Canadian city more welcoming to immigrants and refugees, while also encouraging people to take their own action to connect with newcomers.

Quote of the day

“Migration is part of our humanity. It would not be possible to make it disappear. Nor should we want to. It has enriched our society.” – Miroslav Lajčák, President of the UN General Assembly. Read more here.